Ahmed Rehab and fellow activist Laith Saud discuss their recent experiences in Egypt and the country's transition to democracy.

Ahmed Rehab and fellow activist Laith Saud discuss their recent experiences in Egypt and the country's transition to democracy.

As protests continue to grow in Egypt, speculations regarding who will take President Hosni Mubarak’s place grow as well. For the past two weeks, U.S. media coverage has portrayed the Muslim Brotherhood to be first in line to succeed Mubarak’s regime. However, some say the Muslim Brotherhood is not as radical as most people think.

“Islamophobia is the last form of racism that is tolerated in mainstream America,” said Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago's Communications Coordinator. “You won’t see Fox News go out of its way to defend anti-black or anti-Semitic comments but they went out of their way to defend an Islamophobic statement.”

“Islamophobia is the last form of racism that is tolerated in mainstream America,” said Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago's Communications Coordinator. “You won’t see Fox News go out of its way to defend anti-black or anti-Semitic comments but they went out of their way to defend an Islamophobic statement.”

“A particular concern would be women who wear the hijab because obviously their standards of modesty are probably higher than most people and so they are more concerned about the groping, they are more concerned about the invasion of privacy,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on Islamic Relations in Chicago.

While Obama’s rhetoric has been encouraging, Muslims want to see more done, Amina Sharif, communications coordinator of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Thursday. “Words are nice but action would be better,” she said.

There has been too little progress on a resolution between Israel and Palestine and Muslims are concerned about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sharif said.

Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham gave a lecture on the Patriot Act and other national security policies to students at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Abraham discussed how these laws have affected Muslims in America particularly regarding immigration, travel, and relations with law enforcement.

“There may be differences in political viewpoint and cultural viewpoint, but there’s often far more similarities,” said Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson. “We really cultivate the idea that we should be proactive based on our faith traditions to make a better society here in Chicago.”

“If you enter any Islamic mosque or center and talk to Muslims there, almost every single one has been a victim of discrimination or harassment of some kind,” Sharif said. A Gallup Poll released last week showed that 53 percent of Americans view Islam negatively and more than four out of 10 admit to being at least a little prejudiced against Muslims.